Xbox 360 tops console sales charts once again in July

The games industry as a whole may be suffering from a decline, but don't tell Microsoft that. According to NPD, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling console for the month of July, marking its 19th consecutive month at the top of the chart. That's not all either, as total retail spend on Xbox 360 consoles, software, and accessories reached $218 million, more than what was spent on the on the PS3 and the Wii combined.

In all, 203,000 Xbox 360s were sold during the month of July, allowing the console to capture 49% market share for the month. This is the 17th consecutive month the Xbox 360 has enjoyed more than 40% market share, so it seems that the Xbox is flourishing while the rest of the industry is struggling a bit. Microsoft also mentions that six of the top ten July games appear on Xbox 360, but to be fair, they were all multi-platform titles.

The Xbox 360 got a huge boost in sales numbers around the time Kinect launched back in November 2010, and has been riding that boost ever since. It's also available at a pretty reasonable price, and with Microsoft targeting families and casual gamers with Kinect, it has the perfect setup for stellar console sales. With most of Microsoft's core audience already owning an Xbox 360 by the time 2011 rolled around, the company's decision to begin targeting families and casuals was well-timed and helped the Xbox claim its spot at the top of the charts.

Microsoft is going to have a pretty big holiday season too, with the highly-anticipated Halo 4 hitting shelves in November. It's also expecting games like Forza Horizon and Dance Central 3 to make strong showings this holiday season, so it looks like the Xbox 360 might remain the top-selling console for months to come. At the very least, it's clear that the Xbox 360 is the console to beat in 2012.